Fatal road rage suspect pleads not guilty

The suspect in the possible road rage fatal shooting of a 30-year-old mother of four in East Oakland in October pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge stemming from the incident.

Carl Stephen Dubose, 21, of Oakland, is charged with murder and attempted murder for allegedly shooting at Perla Avina and her husband, Luis Lopez Gallegos, as they drove in the 400 to 600 blocks of 98th Avenue just after 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 25.

Dubose was also charged with the special circumstance of committing a murder during the course of carrying out a drive-by shooting, which could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Oakland police said Gallegos, who was driving, and Avina, who was a passenger, were traveling in their 1998 Toyota Camry when they allegedly had a confrontation with Dubose as he drove in his silver 2001 Volvo S40. Oakland police Sgt. Caesar Basa said in a probable cause statement that a witness identified Dubose as the suspect in the shooting.

Police tracked Dubose to a home in the 6900 block of March Way in Elk Grove on Oct. 29, four days after the shooting, and arrested him after a standoff that lasted more than two hours, according to Elk Grove police. At the Elk Grove home, police recovered Dubose’s Volvo and the gun they believed he used in the shooting.

Basa said Dubose confessed to carrying out the shooting. Police have released few details about what led up to the shooting but said Dubose didn’t know Avina and Gallegos and the motive for the shooting was possibly road rage. Dubose is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on March 23 for a pretrial hearing.